Author: Phill Hollis

I have been actively involved in ministry for over 15 years, God has placed a deep burden on my heart for young people, especially over the last eight years. The vision I believe He has called me to is to see the next generation truly winning in life. But what does winning look like? Is it about having a better house, education, job, car, or a higher standard of living? I firmly believe that if we want to see the next generation winning, it is not necessarily about giving them a better standard of living, but rather providing them with a standard for living rooted in God’s Word.

When young people turn to God and actively pursue Him and His will for their lives, they experience transformational change that can impact everyone around them. This is why we are committed to creating environments that foster discipleship, evangelism, spiritual formation, and fellowship throughout our ministry, believing that God can redeem every life and every situation. We create environments like camps, music courses, sports activities, and youth conferences to help guide young people closer to God.

The highlight of the youth camp for me was witnessing the baptisms of Mile and Josipa from Čapljina. These two young adults first came to the Novi Most centre in Čapljina about eight years ago as teenagers, burdened with life’s challenges that no child should have to bear. Yet, Jesus has redeemed their stories, and now they want to proclaim to the world what He has done for them.

We caught up wth Ivica thier youth leader in Caplina to tells us more about what it was like for him to baptise these young people he has workerd with for many years.

Working with young people in Christian ministry has many highlights.Personally, the biggest highlight is seeing young people’s lives changed as they put their faith in Jesus. This year’s Youth camp was really special as we had two young people from Čapljina get baptised and I had the honour of baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Josipa and Mile have been involved in Novi Most for many years, Mile was amongst the first young people to be part of Novi Most Capljina. Both of them have their own unique story of coming to faith and there have been lots of ups
and downs along the way. It is encouraging to see God’s hand guiding them through it all, never giving up on them, and leading them to this act of discipleship.

I feel truly blessed to be part of their story and it was special for us all to witness them getting baptised on camp, a significant place in their walk with God. This is a pinnacle moment of Christian ministry and we pray for more! More
young people putting their trust in Jesus Christ and living for Him!

Thanks to leaders like Beki and Ivica we are seing young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina not just find a better standard of living but rather a better standard for living with Christ at the center.

By giving £6.50 a month you can help young people like Josipa and Mile.

It was the summer of 1993, in Mostar young people were living through the hell of war, but an idea emerged. An idea that seemed so impossible that it could only have come from God. Sandra one of our founders turned to Nikola her husband and said “What if a holiday in Crikvenica could be offered to young people in Mostar?” There
were only two weeks to organise the trip before the young people returned to school. They needed visas, transport, funding and an array of other challenges to overcome.

They first thought to take 25 young people but God in His glory grew this to 43. For 10 days young people were taken to be young people, to laugh, “hang out” and most of all hear the Good News of the Gospel. In 1994 Novi Most was formally registered as a charity in the UK to aid in the support and work of these pioneers and
to equip those called by God to serve in this nation. – Read the first camp story: Miracle in Mostar, pg
107-119

Today we continue this work working with the Evangelical Church of Bosnia and Herzegovina at their Camp site Emek Beraka. Our team spend months planning and preparing for camp. The one thing you can’t plan is the weather,
we do prepare, but we weren’t prepared for this. We caught up with Becca from Caplina who shares how when the weather tried to catch them by suprise the young people suprised the weather.

Sometimes the most memorable moments on camp are the spontaneous, unplanned ones. That was
definitely true for me on teen camp this year. Last year teen camp was defined by unprecedented
thunder storms which left tents flattened and the boys sleeping in them seeking refuge on
mattresses in hallways in the dry.

So when we saw the forecast for thunderstorms midweek on teen camp this year, there was a sense of ‘oh no, here we go again!’ However, instead of happening in the middle of the night, this time the storms hit during the afternoon. The reaction of the teenagers completely took me by surprise.Instead of taking shelter in the dry of the house, they kicked off their shoes and started running through the pouring rain. One by one, more and more of them joined in. For about an hour they ran, danced and rolled around in the torrential downpour.

Although at the time it seemed like something that was just a bit of fun, and also quite rebellious (culturally, going out in the rain and getting soaking wet is a big no no) on reflection, it was something liberating for many and an activity which brought joy, laughter and freedom to the whole atmosphere of camp. A Godly downpour!

30 years on camp remains a place for young people to be young people even when that means running and splashing in the rain.